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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · wake · coach · hand · kid · roll · mine · swing

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. hand — help
  5. swing — in golf
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — temperature
  9. swing — music
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — a cake
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. swing — to play on
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. degree — an amount
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. hand — in cards

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com